U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Pete Hoekstra meets with Taiwan‘s representative to the Netherlands Chen Hsin-sin at the embassy on Jan. 11.
U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Pete Hoekstra announced on January 11 that he met officially with Taiwan’s representative to the Netherlands Chen Hsin-sin at the embassy, becoming the first U.S. official to meet publicly with a Taiwanese official on U.S. government premises since Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced last Saturday (9) that he was lifting self-imposed restrictions on U.S. relations with Taiwan.
On his official ambassadorial Twitter account, Hoekstra posted a photo of his meeting with Representative Chen Hsin-sin that day and tweeted, “History was made today, hosting Taiwan’s Representative Chen to our embassy. It’s great that our State Department colleagues around the world can now host friends from this vibrant democracy in our embassies. Thank you Taiwan Representative Office in the Netherlands for your friendship with us.”
Chen Hsin-sin also tweeted, “It was my extreme pleasure and honor to meet the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague. For the first time in my diplomatic career, I would like to thank Secretary Pompeo for his statement on January 9.”
In that statement, Pompeo said, “Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and a reliable partner of the United States, but the State Department has for decades established complex internal restrictions governing the interaction of our diplomats, military personnel and other officials with their Taiwanese counterparts. By taking these actions unilaterally, the U.S. government is attempting to appease the communist regime in Beijing. No more of that.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed this announcement by the U.S. Secretary of State. Taiwan’s representative to the United States, Mei-Chin Hsiao, sent out a tweet saying, “Decades of discriminatory practices have been removed. This is a momentous day in the relationship. We cherish every opportunity.”
Global Daily, an editorial published by the People’s Daily, an organ of the Communist Party of China, said Beijing would respond “overwhelmingly” if Pompeo visited Taiwan before the end of his term.
In response to the Global Daily’s editorial, State Department spokesman John Ortegaz tweeted that Pompeo has no plans to visit Taiwan this week, but that the United States will continue to support Taiwan.
Recent Comments